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From Lake Superior to Lake Michigan, this is Wisconsin's Morning Conversation.
Daybreak with Brian and Jamie.
It's 8.06 right now.
Thank you for joining us this morning in Appleton and Oshkosh.
If you're listening on WISS or in Eau Claire on 93.5 the tap or in Hayward on WBZH.
We're glad that you decided to join us on this Friday morning.
My name is Jamie Martenson.
And I'm Brian Noonan.
If you missed our fascinating conversation in the last hour with Matthias Beringer, the battle between viral misinformation and shared belief in the value of science.
You can always go and listen to it on the podcast.
Go to either CivicMedia.com.
You can listen to us live all the time.
And
to your
podcast.
Dot
US.
Dot US.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's I don't know why we have such a...
Strange thing.
Listen, I'm going to be honest with you.
I love the company.
I need to build it up on Spotify.
Spotify, it's Daybreak with Brian and Jamie, known.com, know US, know nothing.
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You can follow along with all the adventures.
Besides, just the ones here on the show.
Sure, of course.
And it's the top of the hour.
So while we're not going to adventure right now, we are going to share some you need to know.
It's
a wake up call in more ways than one.
Time for some you
need to know.
Can't we just say it?
See what happens just once.
Is the FCC really going to care at this point?
They're too busy trying to drum Jimmy Kimmel out of the core.
Who's gonna listen?
Hey, listeners, do me a favor.
Just not that we'll do it, but would you be offended if we actually said the S word?
Milwaukee would ban, here's the top story, Milwaukee's going to ban data centers with more than 60,000 square feet according to a new plan and more strictly regulate smaller data centers under a new zoning proposal.
The file which needs approval from the Common Council and Mayor Cavalier Johnson surfaced about a week after local residents learned that plans to redevelop a former Walmart on Hope Avenue include a small data center.
However,
The new proposal won't affect the Walmart redevelopment plans that according to the Aldermen Mark Chambers whose district includes the building.
The new proposal would change the city's land use definitions to distinguish data centers from general office and substation distribution equipment uses and set parking requirements for data centers.
They would be allowed only in industrial light and industrial heavy zoning districts where they are limited
use to cooling systems where they are a limited use, sorry, to cooling system restrictions.
So in those zoning districts, a data center of 20,000 square feet or less is a limited use.
A data center of more than 20,000 square feet, but not more than 60,000 square feet, would be allowed as special use requiring it to obtain approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals.
So basically what this is saying is they don't want data centers right in your neighborhood.
Data centers need to be off where data centers need to be.
I mean, and this is pretty much the story that we've seen across the state for all of these different communities fighting back against these data centers.
But I think it's interesting because when we've seen this play out in several small communities, I think the fact that Milwaukee is now starting to stricter limits, I think that means that other cities might feel a little bit more freedom to follow that.
Maybe the,
you know,
like the city councils and things might be like, if our big air.
One
of
our bigger cities can pause this a little bit and put some restrictions.
Maybe it's time for us to relook at it.
So hopefully it's an example for some of the other cities across the state.
But you know, economic development, that's what they keep telling me.
They keep telling
me the
utility costs are fine.
They're not.
Ask anybody
who's got a
data center in their backyard.
They're not.
They're using water.
They're using electricity.
Yeah.
What was it the other day?
Some play there was a big power outage and it turns out the
Data center right up the road had sucked up all the juice
It's amazing to me that five six months ago
this was barely a blip in the conversation.
And
now this is a daily
occurrence.
And it's not
just here in Wisconsin, it's
happening all
across the country.
And so
it's just, it's mind boggling to me the five, six months ago, this was, we'd see a story here or there about these data centers.
And now all of a sudden it is, it's everywhere and every state in all sorts of communities, all different sizes are fighting back against this almost day in and day out.
So some of it has even had to go on to ballots about what states and the residents want to do at this point.
So it's kind of mind-boggling that we got here as quick as we did.
We're too far down the road to turn back, unfortunately.
Yeah.
Uh, in other stories of stuff you need to know, this one's fun.
I love this one.
The America, we don't, you know, it's news.
Sometimes it's heavy news cycles.
So the fact that we get to talk about fun stuff once in a while is good for, for the, the mind too.
Uh, that's right.
The America 250 wheel also is connected to the national semi quintessential celebration this year of the signing of the declaration of independence.
And, uh, turns.
that that America 250 wheel, you're gonna be able to ride it if you attend the Wisconsin State Fair.
It's
being
presented by Meyer, the wheel peaks at 230 feet high.
That is 75 feet taller than the prior Wisconsin State Fair Wonder Fair wheel, according to a statement put out by the Wisconsin State Fair.
Sounds amazing, no thank you, I'm terrified of heights, but you know, each their own, show me the pictures.
I
would love
to see
them.
I
will feel so much better.
But
the American 250 wheel is coming to the Wisconsin State Fair.
Of course, the fair runs the sixth through the sixteenth of August.
The fair says that it is the largest portable observation wheel in the world.
And when conditions are right, the top of the wheel offers views as far as 14 miles, which is four miles further than the Wonder Fair.
Each of the wheels, 45 gondolas.
I love that they keep pitting the two against each other.
I know, like there's some sort of competition between the Ferris wheels.
I don't know, like
next year they can put them side by side.
Each of the wheels, 45 gondolas, which seat six people each, is themed to one of the individuals who has served as president of the United States.
Oh God.
The new wheel has nine more gondolas than the Wonder Fair wheel.
We're not done comparing them according to the state
fair.
Of
course.
The fair is holding a flash sale.
Actually, they held a flash sale yesterday to ride those new tick, to ride the, the, the America 250 wheel.
Uh, during the fair though, the ride is going to be $7.
If you want to, you know, get that 14 mile view.
Uh, so make sure you check it out because again, the Wisconsin state fair August 6th through the 16th at state fair park that is in West Alice.
Um, I mean, hello, it's America 250 wheel.
Super awesome.
And
it's the
state fair.
State fair 100% we're taking Parker for the first time he's never been to the state fair which I find I find astounding
we're gonna make you do all the
astounding so normally like old-school Ferris wheels bore the hell out of me
the ones where you're sitting.
But as long as I'm not in the Trump car,
I will not ride.
If one of the gondolas is Trump, I don't trust that it would stay up there.
I don't trust that my wallet would somehow be sucked out of my pocket in that gondola.
But I will go.
Parker, is this something you would ride?
I'm OK with heights.
Okay, well first of all, I do want to say you said it was like 230 feet.
That's such a why It's America 250
250.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Anyway, I'm
sure there's an engineering issue.
Yeah,
20
feet.
Yes
another president
Problem with the problem with Ferris wheels is they're so slow
And I get that's part of the thing, you get up to the top, you gaze around, oh, I want it then to just drop.
Have you ever seen a double ferris wheel?
Oh, like there's a one on top of them.
Yes.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And
those are kind of weird because they, they, they go around at the same time, but then the top wheel and the bottom wheel can
actually spin
separately.
Um, and so, uh, before, I don't know when I got scared of heights.
I think it became a thing as I got older, but when I was younger, I remember going on the double Ferris wheel.
I remember going on it one night when, uh, the, the ride operator decided to flirt with the young girls in town and
he said that.
thing on like the highest level possible.
We were just whipping.
Like I will never forget it and the ride lasted like 20 minutes and it was terrifying because of how
fast it was moving.
Sure, because once carnies come to town, bad things follow.
Carnies, listen, no, if you're a carny and you're coming into town, good luck to you.
Yeah.
But and I'm glad you're there, but somehow I still, we were never allowed to go to like parking lot carnivals or anything as a kid.
Yeah.
Because of the
carnies.
did not trust the carnies to put things together correctly.
Yes.
Yeah.
That's the thing.
They were they were worried about us, you know, any sort of bad influence.
They're like, right, I don't know if these guys can actually work a wrench.
But they can.
So yeah, I'll be where I'll be riding this America's 250 wheel.
We'll get you up there Parker.
And because we are trying to get a day where we all go to the state fair so I can experience the fair.
I'm game.
Let's go.
Why don't we take, oh, we'll take our cream puffs up in the gondola.
Ooh, there
you go.
Ooh, we can have a little tea party.
Yes.
A little tea party up there.
Oh, I love it.
Perfect.
I'll sit
on the.
Frank, we'll have his pinky out.
I'll sit on the bench below, eat my cream puff and watch all of
you.
Just like a mom.
That's right.
The boys are
going on the Ferris wheel.
Mom's going to sit down on the bench.
It's perfect.
Love it.
Don't leave.
When you get off the Ferris wheel, I'll be saying you're right here.
You
just come right over here.
I'm pretty
sure the three of you are capable to do whatever you want.
Probably.
Baby.
I would hope
so.
Depends on how much fair fun we've had by that point.
All right, let's get to the big story this hour.
The failed surplus deal would have sent Wisconsin budget into the red according to new analysis.
The failed deal on tax relief and school funding would have left Wisconsin in the red by billions of dollars according to a memo released Wednesday by the legislature's nonpartisan budget office.
How do you like them apples?
The proposal died dramatically in the Senate last week after a coalition of Democrats and a few Republicans voted against it.
The deal, which was brokered as we know by Tony Evers.
Bob Ivoros and Devin LeMayhew came with an estimated price tag of $1.8 billion.
The money would have been spent on direct checks sent to income taxpayers, general school aid, increased special education funding.
Well, according to the analysis prepared by the fiscal bureau, that proposal, combined with pre-existing expenditures from the state budget and legislation passed over the last year and a half, would have caused the state to spend an additional
3.5 billion over four years.
Boy, they didn't tell us that when they put the plan out, did they?
That
was
a boy.
The analysis found, assuming that no other changes in revenue or spending happened, that would leave the state with a $2.95 billion deficit.
Ouch, we didn't play that one all the way out, did we?
Was that what they were banking on, the fact that there was a surplus though and the surplus could maybe take care of some of that deficit?
They told us that the surplus would also not be depleted.
That we were only going to use part of the surplus.
There was still going to be about almost a billion, I think three quarters of a billion dollars left in the surplus.
plus the rainy day fund was still gonna be there, which is how some of us, myself included, kind of got a little misled, I would say.
I don't think I'm the only one who thought there were good points of that spending deal, but now this comes out and it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
A, did somebody not do due diligence, or B, were we intentionally lied to?
Well, and I think those are good questions.
And I guess at the end of the day, and it would be interesting to talk to the school districts now that were so upset about not getting that funding if they would
still
feel the same way now.
I'm going to think that, I mean, short term, I guess at that point you're looking at maybe short term.
help for long-term consequences.
Right, but the short-term help was, don't worry, we still have money.
It wasn't short-term help that's going to put us at a deficit.
And that deficit then lasts for how long?
Who knows?
So the people who said we were going to blow it all were right.
A balanced budget is just too much to ask for at any stage, I guess.
Oh boy.
Well, health care cuts and health care coverage always difficult.
There was a rally in the Chippewa Valley.
We'll talk about that after this.
It's daybreak on The Civic Media Network.
Now back to more of Daybreak with Brian and Jamie.
Thank you so much for joining us this morning on the Civic Media Network.
It is 22 minutes after 8.
Hopefully you're having a great Friday.
My name is Jamie Martinson.
And good morning.
I'm Brian Noonan.
We have bemoaned health care costs in health care.
cuts their continuous worry for most Americans.
Recently, Republican lawmakers voted on cuts to Medicaid, which would leave an estimated 250,000 Wisconsinites without medical coverage.
Western Wisconsin has been hit hard by cuts in health care.
Two hospitals closing all the Preva clinics throughout the Chippewa Valley have closed.
Wednesday night, residents took to the streets to let their voices and opinions on the state of health care in the region be heard.
Civic media reporter James Kelly was there and he joined
us now to talk about the rally.
James, thanks for being here.
I gave a few details at the beginning there, but how bad are things getting as far as access to healthcare in the Chippewa Valley?
Yeah, I would say they've been pretty bad for pretty much the entire time that I've been out here.
You know, I've been with civic media about two and a half years now.
And pretty much as soon as I got here was when those hospitals, the closure notices started to happen.
So this has been something that I've been covering for my entire time out here.
And, you know, there's new hospitals that are on the way, but the situation in the interim has not been good.
And even this week, I'm hearing stories from people who went to Mayo and Eau Claire and said,
you know, I need to be hospitalized for this or that.
And they say, well, we don't have really any rooms or beds available.
So let's put you in an ambulance and take you an hour and a half down the road to La Crosse.
Wow.
James, you were at the rally that took place in Eau Claire yesterday.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Was this a planned thing?
Was it more organic?
Approximately how many people showed up to basically say that health care is important is essentially what they were doing?
Yeah, it was planned but kind of a couple days notice ahead of time which is you know It's pretty impressive to get a few dozen people out there Maybe 50 or 60 at 11 a.m.
On a Wednesday with
a
couple days notice You know that alone is a pretty impressive organizing seat, but a lot of the
topics at the rally are kind of the same thing that we've heard.
Emergency rooms are getting overburdened, so even if you don't use Medicaid, even if you have private insurance, this is still going to impact you.
You may still not be able to get a bed if you need it.
You may still get bills that you can't afford to pay.
That's the reality of the situation right now when we're waiting for three other hospitals to kind of fully open up their doors over the next couple of years.
But it's that interim time where the last few years have been very difficult for people to access health care, labor and delivery services specifically.
People are driving over an hour to give birth, which is almost unthinkable.
Wow.
James, as part of your report, which people can read at civicmedia.us, all your stuff is there.
But you talked to an ER critical care physician while you were out at this rally the other day.
Where did that physician place the blame for this current situation?
That has been inadequate Medicaid reimbursement.
Pretty much since the Sacred Heart Hospital and St.
Joe's hospitals closed originally, those were the driving factors that were cited in their closure.
We're just not getting enough in Medicaid reimbursement because as you know, when you kind of get into the more rural areas of America, that's where Medicaid becomes a little more prevalent than maybe in the cities where private health insurance is a little more accessible.
So when hospitals aren't getting enough in Medicaid reimbursement, all of a sudden things like labor and delivery services are no longer a profitable.
business.
They're losing money on these services and at some point you can't just keep losing money and you have to close programs or you have to close hospitals and people have to go elsewhere and those places become overburdened and it's kind of a cycle of not having the reimbursement rates needed to continue to offer these services that people do very much need.
We're talking with James Kelly.
He is a civic media journalist.
He covers the Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls region on WCFW and WSCM.
I thought in your article, it was also interesting that you heard concerns from some of the rally goers about election integrity.
How are voters starting to react based on your conversation about some of the renewed questions about the 2020 election?
Yeah, that was something that was a little more spontaneous in the moment.
The impetus for kind of going down that route at the protest was Tom Tiffany earlier this week commenting that FBI agents should continue to question election officials over the results of the 2020 election.
And I was, you know, listening to you guys last hour talk about, you know, how many times do we have to litigate this, investigate this over and over again?
You know, this is six years ago now.
And here we are in 2026 still talking about it.
Some of the people that spoke at the event were poll workers who work in the Chippewa Valley and kind of shared that experience of like, there is no possible way to have fraud here.
The amount of checks and accuracy and election observers looking over your shoulder, like these people are on top of everything that there could be out here.
If there was fraud, one of these investigations or lawsuits would have uncovered it.
It never did, but here we are still talking about it.
And James, you've been talking to people in that area for the last couple years.
Are they, and this was a question we were talking about amongst ourselves, are they getting tired of all of this?
Do you think this is hurting the Republican, from what you've gathered from talking to people?
Is it hurting the Republican Party here because of all that nonsense about the recounts and the investigations?
I would say there's definitely a tension on it out here specifically because you know the congressman who represents this district is Derek Van Orden who you know voted for the one big beautiful bill and has had his own election integrity questions over the years so I think you know when the points of these rallies aren't necessarily to kind of drive change right now it's
It's going to be tough to kind of expand Medicaid under the current political situation or kind of move past these election denialism claims.
The real point of them is to kind of put a face on it and say, hey, if you're upset about the way your health care situation has worked out, your health insurance, you're upset about the constant questioning of election integrity, these are the people who are at the top of the chain right now.
These are the people who are talking about it the most and kind of putting that in your lives on a day in, day out basis.
Well, James, we thank you for your time.
Thank you so much for the coverage of this rally.
Again, that is James Kelly, Civic Media Journalist for WCFW and WSCM in the Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls region, civicmedia.us to here to read this report and more of James' work.
I mean, Brian, people are getting upset.
Healthcare is being
cut.
We're losing
rights.
Yeah.
If I'm a woman who has to be driven an hour and a half to give birth, I am doing a lot more than crossing my legs and screaming.
The screaming will be very specific.
It's Daybreak on the Civic Media Network.
Across the state of Wisconsin, Daybreak with Brian and Jamie is back.
Thank you so much for joining us this morning on the Civic Media Network.
We hope you are having a great start to your Friday.
Well, for a lot of people, their day is just starting, Brian.
We're starting to wind
down
our
day.
Yeah, this is where I know people don't want to hear that our day is ending.
Is there on their commute to work going, what, your day is over?
We're sorry.
We've also been up
since like 4 AM.
I'm not sorry.
We've also
been up since like 4 AM.
So while
you were
sleeping, we were already
up.
Yeah.
I empathize, but I don't apologize.
And I
don't expect you to feel sorry for us being
up at 4
a.m.
either.
No, no, no.
Everybody listen.
Everybody's got to go to work.
Everybody gets up at whatever time they have to work.
We all do what
we gots to do.
That's right.
Except today, Stephen Colbert can just relax because last night
was
the final, the final late show, the end of a franchise on CBS 85575 Civic 8557524842.
How do you feel about the diminishing late night TV landscape?
And are you going to miss?
Stephen Colbert and did because did you miss the late late show when that went off the air and when that?
When whatever other late night shows you watched are going off the air I for one even though I don't watch them as much ever now because of because of our schedule I think it's very telling that The late night shows are going away.
Yeah, I I did watch Colbert, but not a
given my preference was Jimmy Kimmel or is Jimmy Kimmel.
But I did like Colbert.
I appreciated his show.
It was a different a different sensibility than Kimmel's show, even though they both in the last couple years have turned very pointedly political toward standing up to Donald Trump, which I admired and I found hilarious.
I don't know.
We all know that
There's been speculation that part of the reason Colbert Was let go or the show was canceled was because of political pressure now CBS says it was all budgetary But if you go back to the timeline you can argue that it there's too many too many Coincidences and you know how I feel about coincidences Jamie
mean you mean like that looming Sundance paramount deal.
Is that what you're referring to?
That is what I'm all
right
Paramount and Sundance were trying to do a merger.
CBS bowed to Donald Trump's inane lawsuit over a way that 60 Minutes edited a Kamala Harris interview, which according to all legal experts, the case had zero merit.
But they settled it.
Why?
I don't know.
But could it be that they were looking at the merger?
Then once they settled the lawsuit and they paid
Donald Trump his money pays that man his money.
All of a sudden.
Hey, look at this, the merger goes through and Colbert makes a joke on the air about it being a big fat bribe.
And then the word comes down that the number one rated show in late night is being canceled.
So you draw your own conclusions.
I don't know what to tell you, but it is it is still a sad thing because late night TV.
for most of us growing up.
And, Parker, you're probably too young for this.
This was not a thing for you.
Did you ever watch the shows or were you just a clip guy the next day?
I would watch the full monologue of Colbert.
That's about it.
It would need to be a celebrity interview that I actually cared about.
I'm not watching anybody at all.
I mean, there's two ways of thinking about this.
I definitely
think the Trump administration has had influence.
The leadership of Barry Wise being brought into CBS
has
definitely had influence.
But I think to the way we watch TV and we get our entertainment has also changed.
I will say this though, it's just an all around sad day at CBS yesterday.
Right, or this week in general, because not only did the Colbert show sign off last night, today is the last day that CBS News, Radio News is available.
All of these markets, including markets that are part of the civic media network, had to figure out new paths, new ways.
And this was a heritage, this was heritage in both fronts, right?
So it was just,
to see the landscape of media change as much as it has over the last few years and then to just watch it kind of dwindle away in literally a 24-hour period at CBS is, if you're somebody who pays attention to those things, the history, you do love media, for whatever you think of it, it is very sad.
It's a little bit of a mourning period, I think.
And it was not just a cancellation of Colbert, the whole franchise of the late show that was started by David Letterman.
is now gone.
There is no more late night programming on CBS.
Now, I know they're airing comics unleashed, but they are paying to have that on.
See, not CBS.
Byron Allen's production company is paying
to
have that on.
It's just, and maybe I'm thinking back too much to when I was in college and after college, when talking like for my, for my generation, it was letter.
You everybody talked about Letterman the next day.
Everybody you knew had watched Letterman.
Then the next generation for like, buddies of mine who were in their 30s and stuff, it was Conan.
Yeah, every Oh man, you had to watch Conan and they were, they were not just shows.
They were cultural touchstones.
They were a place we all could gather.
We could all we could all talk about
things the next day and did you see this
or
what did you think of this and then there were that was the drama over the late night wars between Letterman and Leno
and
Conan and all the late night TV was a big big deal
going all the
way back to Johnny Carson
where
the amount of Americans and I know viewing was limited back then but the amount of people who watch Johnny Carson every night it just it just became a thing and so this is
This this is truly an end of an era.
Yeah, and we have to move on The argument though that it was not just about budget right is that according to Colbert staffers and Friends of the show they were never approached to Cut their budget.
It wasn't like hey we can all you you could keep doing the show But you got it there was never any of that it was yeah gone and so that that erases
or closes a chapter on a huge bit of history, because even, you know, Letterman moving to CBS, that was, remember how big news that was?
Yes, it was huge.
And when the late show started?
Yes.
And it's been nice to see Dave come back in the last couple of weeks and do some things with...
I
mean, let's be realistic.
David Letterman and the sneezing monkey is still one of the best most watched clips
on
social media and on
YouTube.
It really is.
Letterman, and I don't throw around the word genius.
He knew how to do TV.
He did.
By all reports, he's a cantankerous human being, but man, he could do television.
I don't know.
I feel
like when I watch him now, when he does his specials, he's mellowed a little bit, right?
Well, yeah.
And I
know he had his past.
I get it.
I'm not.
I'm not.
Yeah.
Well, I would imagine the strain of doing a daily TV show takes a lot out of
you.
Yeah.
And I mean.
And when you're.
He a perfectionist like he is and
let's be honest He kind of got the shaft by the networks if you remember
way back in
the day going
back got screwed by him did
he did
absolutely Percent
so
I
think at that point you get to be a little contankerous and be a little judgmental and probably have a few opinions of things you know around you when you you've kind of gone that route in your career so
So who was your late-night go-to show and and do you still even?
pay attention to late night television eight five five seven five six eight five five seven five civic why am I looking to see making it a six eight five five seven
five
two four eight four two too many things running through my head too many emotions I laughed so hard the other day did you see the clip where Dave came back and he and Colbert were throwing CBS property off the roof of the Ed Sullivan theater and yeah then good then they ended it with the way it started with Dave throwing watermelons off
And it was just, it was phenomenal.
Yeah.
Just, just phenomenal.
It was a, it was a, I thought it was a really great ending week for Colbert.
And I'll
be honest.
I have them recorded.
So I watched Monday's show last night.
I've got, I haven't, I'm trying to avoid all the spoilers for last night's show because I'm going to watch that later on.
But I know Springsteen was on.
And I'm not one who
I'm not one who because of my schedule because I've done morning radio for a really long time I didn't normally get to just tune into late night TV.
It wasn't just it just wasn't something I was able to do because of scheduling.
I did what I will say and I won't give you any spoilers but what I did find is that it was a really fitting
I thought a good week and a good way to send Colbert off in a way that I thought was fitting for him, his show, his humor, how he got his start in that slot.
Yes.
It was rough when he started.
It was really
rough.
Really
rough.
I'll be honest, I loved Colbert when he was on The Daily Show.
I
was a
little skeptical of how this was going to work with him on a nightly show where it was just him, a monologue, guess, I wasn't sure how that was going to work.
Well, you were not the only one.
It did not work out well at first.
No.
But then Conan didn't work out well, everybody.
Everybody takes a while to find their footing, and it was the election.
It was the 2016 election that really got him, really flipped him around.
But he was on for 11 years.
That's a long run.
It's a
long time.
It's a long time.
Here's what I'm going to say as we've watched this shift in late night TV.
This was their job, right?
These hosts would get up and they would react to things that were happening in the world, in headlines.
They would poke fun at celebrities.
They would poke fun at politicians.
This is what they did.
None
of
that was new.
It was just part of the job.
And every politician went through their moment with the late night hosts.
They all had a moment where they got roasted by them.
Yes.
Everybody was in the barrel, as we like to say.
It's
when our leaders can't handle being made fun of, or can't handle laughing at themselves, that you get, I think, what's eventually happened at CBS.
And then I guess, for me, it starts, and this was something I know we've talked about before, but...
Where do we draw that line between now a potentially an administration being able to make the rules for what should be media and entertainment?
And
that's what worries me.
Well what happens is then any voice of dissent is silenced.
And unlike royal courts where the jester was there to poke fun and take the air out of the king, our king doesn't want that.
Our king wants blind devotion.
And so it's a
It's a really, it's a hard day for television as an industry.
It's a hard day for people who are like, well, why, why is comedy starting
to die
out?
And again, if it was strictly a business decision, then you come to them and you say, Hey, we got to cut costs.
And you could decide you either cut costs or cut the show or bring it in if it wasn't.
that you could bring in a different host.
But no, you canceled the whole, the whole kitten caboodle to make things happier.
And now Jimmy Kimmel is back on the block,
right?
Because he dared to tell like he took last night off.
Kimmel show went dark.
We're rerun yesterday,
which
that was a pretty classy.
Yes.
And he did that when Letterman went off the air.
But he he said he made it made a statement about
you know, I'll be watching Stephen Colbert show.
I want
you to watch it tomorrow night too.
And then don't watch CBS again.
Okay, that that's been echoed by thousands of people who are and but now Jimmy Kimmel, they're calling for him to be, you know,
Here's the thing too, and I was having this discussion with a friend the other day, because one of the things she said is, well, media is supposed to be independent.
And I said, yeah, but is it in 2026?
It's owned by massive corporations, board of directors
are
run by billionaires.
There's private control over what we see, we hear, we don't hear.
We've seen examples of it in the industry of owners influencing content decisions.
We saw it during the 2024 election when
Jeff Bezos-
And
Jeff Bezos wouldn't allow the New York Times to run their op-ed, right?
I mean, there isn't independent media anymore because it's privately owned.
All right.
Well, R.I.P., late show franchise on CBS.
But on the other side, we're going to leave you on a high note.
It's Daryl Ann Diaries next.
She's Jamie Martins and I'm Brian Noonan and this is the Civic Media Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Find the latest news, information and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.
this morning.
It's okay.
We'll forgive you because that might mean you're at your cubicle, but we're going to jump around and we
are
going to celebrate Wisconsin because this is one of our favorite segments, Dairyland Diaries, where we highlight the good things, Brian, when
you
curate these stories happening around the state.
It is all upbeat things.
There's no politics involved.
It's just Wisconsin and it's feeling good.
And we're going to start with the arts, Jamie, because you know, I am a patron of the arts.
So I spam a lot the other night, if you're going on a long weekend, if you're coming into Chicago for any reason, I'd go see Spam a lot.
It's always a great show.
Monty, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
It was it was great.
But if you're closer to home, the American Players Theater in Spring Green is receiving a Tony Award.
Also fantastic, by the way.
If
you've never been to APT, please make time.
Put that on your Wisconsin bucket list.
And they're on their way to an EGOT.
Yes.
Because now they have the.
The theater company, now in its 47th season, was named a recipient of the 2026 Regional Theater Tony Award on Tuesday.
Along with the recognition, the theater will receive a $25,000 grant.
When they announce the award, Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theater Wing and Jason Lax, president of the Broadway League, called American Players, a quote, one of a kind institution delivering world-class theater presentations to the Midwest.
The Tony's recognized
achievements in Broadway theater but they included annual regional theater award.
Tuesday's award is the first for a Wisconsin theater company in six decades and the committee in the six decades that the committee has been singling out regional theaters.
The American players was founded nearly 50 years ago and they produced timeless challenging poetic texts with Shakespeare at the center to the broadest audience possible.
That's according to the company.
The first performance in Wisconsin was a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1980.
The company's 47th season will begin June 6th again with Shakespeare.
This time as you like it, they will receive their Tony the following day at the Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
That is on June 7th.
Congratulations to American Players Theater Tony Award for a little theater right here in Wisconsin.
Have you ever got to go
to APT?
I have not, but now I must sit there in a wardrobe.
It's
outdoors.
It's beautiful.
You're in beautiful scenery.
You are basically in a theater of the round, so they really do try to keep it as far as that Shakespearean spirit.
It is always a blast.
And it's a beautiful drive.
Spring-Green is a beautiful area, so beautiful drive from wherever you're at in the state
if you ever get the opportunity.
It sounds
lovely.
It is very lovely.
And I love going to the theater.
Even Shakespeare.
Sometimes it's hard for us to understand.
but it is good.
Certain times of the year, make sure you have your bug spray, that's all I'm gonna say, because
it
is Wisconsin.
It's outside and it's Wisconsin.
Exactly, but it is so worth it.
All right, in other Dairyland diary, oh, I love this one, because we know for a lot of older adults, especially if you're in a care facility or living with memory loss, the simple act of going outside can become very rare.
Cycling without age, Marathon County is working to change all of that, one slow.
ride at a time.
Board member and volunteer Chris Flitz said that the rides offer more than transportation.
It gives people a chance to feel connected to the world outside again, saying everybody deserves to enjoy the outdoors.
He said, quote, I think it's definitely something that those of us who are able-bodied take for granted, being able to simply walk out a door and stand outside.
So cycling without age is this worldwide movement.
In case you don't know, they started in Copenhagen in 20
and now includes thousands of chapter locations across the globe.
In its mission to build, its mission, I should say, is to build around the idea the older adults and people with limited mobility should still have access to fresh air, some conversation, and the feeling of moving through their community.
So in Marathon County, the program is entering its eighth season.
Volunteers, which are known as pilots, use electric assist tri-shaws.
These are three-wheel bicycles with a comfort...
to roll passenger seat in the front so that they can take residents to care facilities and others on free rides.
Now, these rides are not meant to be fast.
That is the entire point.
That's right.
Some rides are simple loops throughout neighborhoods.
Sometimes they stop for an ice cream.
That would be my ride.
Summer built around the same, but they're all built around the same idea.
They want to give people with what cycling without age calls the right to wind in your hair.
love that.
That's
fantastic.
That it sounds fantastic.
And I would I'd be the guy you'd be asking for ice cream.
I'd ask them to stop at the tavern.
There we go.
You know, just swing by and let's go.
I'll buy this round.
So that's very cool.
All right, that time for
all of it, Brian.
I would love a try shot if I because the other thing is I love that their battery electric assists.
So they don't have to they don't have to pedal around really quick.
Luke Combs had did two concerts last week in Green Bay at Lambeau Field, sold them both out.
Things went crazy.
Well, Monday he decided he was going to go play a little golf at Whistling Straits before the concert.
So then he stopped because.
There is a big garage sale weekend in Cleveland County, and Finley Ulich, his ten and his brother, his brothers, had a lemonade stand.
It's a village of roughly 1500, so they're there, they're selling...
Lemonade outside their house some guy comes by and Stops his car comes over he goes well what what do you got there to drink because they had juice boxes or water for a buck Soda for two bucks or bubbler, which is sparkling water.
That was three bucks a can the guy buys himself a little drink there and he Goes back to his car now the mom is watching from the window, but she doesn't go out the guy leaves 120 bucks in their tip top
for these three brothers.
Turns out it's Luke Combs.
He stopped there and his mom finally realized who he was.
Now Combs had a photographer with him.
They took a picture.
They published one, but it didn't have the kids in it.
So the mom got a hold of the photographer and she contacted them.
She got the picture.
But Luke Combs big country music star stops and drops a drops a lot of cash and some kids lemonade stand.
That's
awesome.
That's awesome.
And if
you watch the Packers players and coach at the concert, you know, they can all throw down together.
So
yeah, that was
That was a whole other thing, but everybody was having fun.
That's Dairyland Diaries for this week.
Hopefully you're in a little better mood as we head into the weekend.
We're done.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend.
Take a second to actually remember, memory and memorial.
I'm Brian Noonan.
We'll talk to you next week.
I'm Jamie Martin.
It's 8.59.
Happy Memorial Day weekend.
Be safe.
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